i failed at low carbing before but im back for another try. ive been doing intermittent fasting for past 9ish months, but i find i eat too much on my eat days so i have been putting weight on!
Started back low carbing this week, its day 3 and i fast mondays, wednesdays and fridays.
So monday 500 cals, tuesday normal low carb eating, wed 500 cals... today is wed and i feel really weak :/

never felt weak before doing fast, im thinking it must be the combination of fast and low carbs.

I lost 30 pounds low carbing last year and then hit a wall for about 4 months. Then the spring came, started biking a lot and got down another 10. But that was it for about another 4 months. I was eating right and exercising, but my main problem was just snacking. I'm a weakling when it comes to having "just one bite" no way, it's one bite, followed by the whole bag.

So back in September, I'm not sure how I came upon it, but I started reading about water fasting. Now, lots of people say water fasting is extreme, unhealthy, you'll die. There's one thing all those people have in common though.. They've never done it. Thankfully, I don't take advice from anyone who has zero experience in the subject matter. I read a couple of books published by MD's and gave it a shot. I did a 6 day water fast and dropped 15 pounds (5-6 of which is water weight).

The biggest thing with fasting is figuring out how to control your hunger once you start "refeeding". For a lot of people (if not most) not only will they gain back that water weight, but they'll springboard past the other 10 pounds and end up gaining an extra couple pounds of fat. Which sounds kind of like the problem you are having. You're fasting, controlling the urges that whole day, but then indulging and don't know how to control it.

So, while on my 6 day water fast, I researched how to break the fast, and how to keep the fat off. I came upon the FAST5 program. There's nothing special about it, you just pick a 5 hour window every day of the week when you will eat. In that program, they're pretty big on making sure you pick a set time (12-5pm every day no matter what) type of thing. But life doesn't work that way, I just make sure it's a 5 hour window. So if I eat a snack at 12pm today, no matter how small, I'm not allowed to eat after 5pm. Tomorrow if I don't happen to eat until 2pm, then I'll cut myself off at 7pm.

I play hockey every week, and I've got to tell you, not only do I never feel weak, I feel better than ever. My hockey games are at 10pm at night most weeks. So I'll eat from 10am to 3pm or something like that. There's really nothing in my stomach to digest or slosh around. It's just all energy left over and I play better than I ever did the last 5 seasons.

Something like the FAST5 is what I recommend for you to control the binge eating (the book is free online as well and only about a half hour read, you can google it) Oh and though I try to stay lowcarb, again. Sh$t happens. But with only a 5 hour window it's actually very hard to overeat unless you spend 5 hours funnelling cheesecake into your mouth.

Currently I'm doing another water fast, since I don't have hockey this week and can rest a lot. Down 14 pounds and shooting for another 10 by the time I'm done (on day 6, shooting for 14). Aside from weight loss, it also helps clear out toxins and repair tissue. But if you ever decide to do something like a water fast, please do your due diligence and make sure you break it properly.

I'm a big fan of low carb intermittent fasting. It's the only way I was able to break into "onederland" after stalling many MANY times at 202 over the years.

To my knowledge there are 3 main ways to do it...probably others that are variations of these or maybe others I have not heard of:

1) The 8 (or less) hour daily eating window.
2) The longer fasts (24-36 hours at a time, roughly once or twice a week).
3) Warrior fasting - one big meal at night daily, the only time you eat at all.

I do option #1, and have done it every day for about 2 months. I stalled on low carb, low fat, and even stalled on intermittent fasting/low fat combination. But (so far) intermittent fast/low carb combination has been awesome.

I want to add that I DO absolutely work out during the fast, and with very high intensity. I run 5K's during my fast about 4 times a week, 2 days a week I strength train. (I should be clear that I started with low carb only, and I was physically in decent shape before I did anything while intermittent fasting.) I don't eat for another 4 hours after my workout, because that is the only way to make it work for my schedule. I don't worry about losing muscle or energy, and have gained both during this time. From my understanding, the body makes MUCH growth hormone after working out fasted that protects the muscle from being used for fuel, and since any glycogen was already burned, your body HAS to burn fat. That being said, my fasted workouts are incredible -- so much energy. I feel like my body isn't "wasting" any energy digesting, so it all goes right to my workout. I am a big fan, but I cannot claim that it is for everyone. (Particularly, I am a guy, so I have testosterone working for me -- a fact that needs consideration.)

hi ! Im just starting intermittent fasting!!!!! Its kind of tricky for me because I work a second shift job, I clean offices full time at night. I did the 16 hour fast last week all week!! I am a house keeper during the day too. I kind of got off track over the weekend so today is my first day back on track. But the way I feel is amazing. I quit nuts and dairy a couple of months ago which is another thing that makes me feel so much better. and i finally broke a stall that has lasted forever. I dont eat meat but I do eat fish and farm free range eggs from this farm I live by. so Ive been living on eggs fish a little bit of veggies and alot of coconut oil. I do need some sort of liquid vitamin though searching for a sugar free organic one online. Sometimes last week I felt kind of off, so maybe vitamins are what Im missing.

I follow the IF program called Eat Stop Eat. I fast twice a week and on those fasting days, I eat only dinner. I don't normally eat breakfast anyway so only change for me is to skip lunch. I eat low carb but not that strict. Only thing I worry about is to fast 2x a week. Less restrictions, the better for me otherwise I can't continue. I've been fasting 2x/wk for about a year and this is the only thing worked for me.

i had to give up fasting last week, i dont understand but on my fast day on low carb dies i get weak and nauseous. i nearly collapsed in work and i was vomiting from it. didnt make me feel good at all.

im gonna try introduce one fast day as soon as i think my body has got used to low carb intake.

Rua, which IF program are you doing? If you are doing Eat Stop Eat and its not going well, you can try Leangains. On that program, you eat within an 8 hour eating window, and fast the other 16, every day. This is easier than it sounds since sleeping counts toward the 16. You just skip breakfast and eat lunch and dinner no longer than 8 hours apart. You can also eat more than those to meals, just keep it all in the 8 hour window. To me, this trains your body to use fat daily rather than shocking you twice a week with a harder fast. I do the Leangains approach and love it. I also work out with great intensity in the fasting window - workouts are easier because my body is already accessing fat and not multitasking (trying to fuel exercise and your digestive system at the same time.) Now that i am used to it, i hate working out with anything in my stomach besides water.

I want to be clear - Eat Stop Eat is wonderful. There are some biochemical advantages that it acceeses that Leangains does not because you need a longer fasting window (namely cellular cleaning processes), but i think its hard to jump right into. I think i could do it now, but i feel like Leangains prepared me for it. I really bellieve in IF, I hate for you to give up on it.

I am so glad that this subject is here. I wish I knew how to post a new thread altogether but I don't yet. I truly believe in the low carb lifestyle due to the fat that it has helped me lose 87 pounds in the last 3 years. I have gained back 30 of it due to not low carbing and not working out. I have also done juicing and have to admit that I never felt better in my life! I have decided to adopt the vegan woe once again because I have had success in the past with it. Here is my issue. PROTEIN! My other issue is I hate to cook. If I didn't have a husband (who is a typical American diet eater). I would have nothing in my kitchen but a fridge in order to store my veggies. I am not partial to fruit either. Food has always been a huge inconvenience to me. Meaning I just want to fill the void (hunger). It is easy to eat junk just because it comes in a box or a can. However, now I want to change things. I have never been a breakfast eater and usually don't consider food until around 3 p.m every day. I have fasted for days on end and usually will fast at least 2-3 days a week just because of the inconvenience of the kitchen. I guess what I'm getting at here is.....considering I am fasting a lot of the time anyway, can I et an adequate amount of protein from just raw veggies and nothing else? If not can I compensate with a vegan protein powder and a multi-vitamin? My dream would be too eat only raw veggies, drink some protein a couple of times a day and take a vitamin supplement in tablet or liquid form. I have searched endlessly on the internet for people who just eat raw veggies and can find nothing. I have had many people say wow really? Don't you like food? The truth is it has never really impressed me much. If there is someone who can relate to me here please let me know. Also, if anyone could tell me how to post a new thread that would also be helpful. Thank you

To post a new thread, go to any of the screens and look for a button that says "new thread." There's lots of stuff on each page, so just look close for that button. You will get the most "traffic" (people reading your post) in the Main LC Lobby, but you will get more specific advice if you find a more specific place to post.

I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer your other questions. I would be concerned about the lack of protein if you IF and do not eat meat, but I cannot really give you mathematical answers as to why I feel that way. But I would give advice that some nuts might be helpful in filling that void. I hope you find the answer you are looking for!